RALEIGH - North Carolina's capital city has seen a spike in robberies this year that has left five people dead and unsettled residents and police alike.

More than 360 robberies have been reported in the city this year, compared with about 240 during the same period last year, police spokesman Jim Sughrue said.

The 51 percent uptick contradicts the city's low-crime image.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/wake/raleigh/story/1056632.html

5/1/2008 12:39:34 PM

gangsta thug wannabes.

5/1/2008 12:55:36 PM

^ The same kind of idiots that stabbed that cabbie to death last week.

5/1/2008 12:58:24 PM

mossberg 590 + loaded with buckshot + stashed next to the bed.

come rob my house.

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 1:15 PM. Reason : because I am TUFF]

5/1/2008 1:01:09 PM

There have been more near campus, that's for sure.

I'm guessing with rising food prices, rising gas prices, and people getting out of jail from their sentences, crime's just going to go up.

That's a pretty big spike though, a lot of people must've been "on the edge" that are now doing this (unless there's a bunch of people being released from prison right now).

5/1/2008 1:14:47 PM

I was robbed 3 weeks ago. So I can believe those statistics. The perps were caught. Dumb neighbor's kid hanging out with the wrong crowd. Brought over one of his thug friends. The dude decided to rob my place in broad daylight.

My sister came over to visit and use my computer. We left to pick up dinner. We were only gone 30-45 minutes. She was upstairs on the computer when they took two laptops, some cash, an replica gun, and a penny jar. They never went upstairs. Which is a good thing. You never know how a confrontation will end up.

Only reason they were caught was that my neighbor saw them hanging around the neighborhood that evening so that gave the police a lead. Both laptops, cash, and penny jar were returned. Replica gun is still missing. The two teens were arrested. One 17 and the other 16. The one who came into our home is being charged as an adult for larceny. The 16 year old was put in jail for a night and release to his mother the next day.

There have been a lot of robberies in our area. Not to be stereotypical or racist, but it has been all black teens that have been caught in our area according to the police. Supposedly they belong to some no-name gang. So, rightfully, I now have preconcieved notions about these black teens. Last few weeks, I haven't seen any of them outside. But, the next one that even looks at my house in a weird way, I'm going to make sure they know not to come near my house.

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 1:29 PM. Reason : more info]

5/1/2008 1:28:32 PM

Quote :

"Not to be stereotypical or racist, but it has been all black teens that have been caught in our area according to the police."

thats not racist. its called the power of observation.

5/1/2008 1:40:17 PM

~180 pounds of dog.....best security system evar.

5/1/2008 2:38:04 PM

most good thieves are also good with dogs. but yeah, your casual break-into-your-house-to-steal-your-laptop type of thief would probably just go to a house without a dog.

5/1/2008 2:40:40 PM

^^^ fucking exactly.

Stereotypes exist for a reason btw.

If anything reintroduction of the ethnicity of the NCSU campus alert emails actually helps b.c otherwise most people would assume the culprit was of "dark" complexion. This has nothing to do w/ racism but is a natural result which can be explained by information theory and entropy

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 2:42 PM. Reason : a]

5/1/2008 2:41:15 PM

what the fuck does entropy have to do with it?

5/1/2008 2:46:20 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_entropy

information entropy

Quote :

"Consider tossing a coin with known, not necessarily fair, probabilities of coming up heads or tails. The entropy of the unknown result of the next toss of the coin is maximised if the coin is fair (that is, if heads and tails both have equal probability 1/2). This is the situation of maximum uncertainty as it is most difficult to predict the outcome of the next toss; the result of each toss of the coin delivers a full 1 bit of information. However, if we know the coin is not fair, but comes up heads or tails with probabilities p and q, then there is less uncertainty. Every time, one side is more likely to come up than the other. The reduced uncertainty is quantified in a lower entropy: on average each toss of the coin delivers less than a full 1 bit of information. The extreme case is that of a double-headed coin which never comes up tails. Then there is no uncertainty. The entropy is zero: each toss of the coin delivers no information."

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 2:51 PM. Reason : l]

5/1/2008 2:50:21 PM

Yeah, I'm trying to get our HOA to do a community watch. I know the community down the street from us is doing one. I mean, it won't stop robberies, but it should deter these theives.

As with the kid that robbed us, I believe it's a mix of bad parenting and poor support from the education system like the N&O stated. Parents just don't care. And the education system shuns them away when they do poorly.

For example, the mother of the kid who aided in the robbery of my home, didn't come over an apologize until 2 weeks later. She did return one of the laptops. Not sure how she got it, but she did. I think she's just trying to cover her own butt, because when it all comes down to it, she's the one paying for the stolen items if they aren't recovered. She's a nice lady, but she needs to get control of her son before he grows up and becomes a habitual prison visitor. Just because you're a nice person, doesn't make you a good parent.

5/1/2008 2:52:20 PM

the rise of youth gangs is directly correlated to the rise in crime

5/1/2008 2:54:43 PM

In India people strive and dream of growing up to be engineers and doctors.

In the US many of our young people strive and dream of either being a drug dealer or NBA star

5/1/2008 3:17:08 PM

I don't quite think thats correct.

5/1/2008 3:18:43 PM

^^i don't know for sure, but i would assume that there's PLENTY of crime in india.

also, note that the indians you know, are probably mostly the engineers that have gone out of their way to come to america to learn. certainly engineering is held in a high regard in that country. but there are similar professions in this country that are highly regarded (medicine, law, etc), that doesn't translate into a meaningful increase or reduction in crime i wouldn't think (especially for those who see those sorts of careers as completely out of reach)

5/1/2008 3:21:51 PM

Also in India many people are born poor and blame it on karma, thinking that they must have been a real dick in their past life. So their main goal in life is to not step on any toes, die, and then come back rich. Of course they still have violent criminals there.

Most countries and cultures contain at least one demographic that's full of fuck ups.

^ Yeah, a de facto caste system is still in effect in many places there, so upward mobility is not nearly as common there. The successful ones that you see in America aren't entirely representative of where they come from.

If I'm wrong then feel free to correct me.

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 3:25 PM. Reason : .]

5/1/2008 3:22:57 PM

Coming from an asian family, I can attest that my parents expected nothing less. They're actually disappointed that I only got a Bachelors. They were expecting me to get atleast a Masters. Ironically, I make more than both of them combined.

I can't say the same for one of my aunts. They went through a divorce. Guess what? Single parent homes = socially inadequate individuals. One cousin got kicked out of school. The other dropped out of school. And one is in a gang. And I know exactly where to point the finger.

It's definately a social issue. And it starts in the home. That is where we learn our morals and values. When we don't get those values from our parents, we turn to other venues. Venues not designed to teach morals and values.

Some liberals on here have said: You shouldn't brain wash your children into thinking certain ways or believing certain things. You should let them grow up and decide for themselves.

I say: They're going to get brain washed anyways. Whether from their friends, Hollywood and the media, or their drug dealing uncle. Atleast brain wash them with the positive things that you know of.

5/1/2008 3:41:26 PM

Quote :

"#24 United States: 0.042802 per 1,000 people #25 Armenia: 0.0425746 per 1,000 people #26 India: 0.0344083 per 1,000 people "

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita

India is all of 2 places behind us in the world's ranking of per capita murders per annum according to that site. I don't think there's a lot of black people in India, but I'm sure that's what HUR would attribute all that crime to.

5/1/2008 3:51:14 PM

Quote :

"It's definitely a social issue. And it starts in the home. That is where we learn our morals and values. When we don't get those values from our parents, we turn to other venues. Venues not designed to teach morals and values."

See its more than that though, some kids come from decent families and still choose to get involved in crime. And im not talking about petty high school crime like smoking a joint or egging a house, but real crime like robbery and home invasions etc. I think a huge part of the problem is that "thug" culture has become waay to glamorized over the decades. Kids still join gangs for the usual historic reasons (protection, new immigrants, money, lack of real family, need to belong etc), but now it seems there are more kids joining because they simply feel it is cool and glamorous to be a thug. I think its this appeal that draws more and more kids in that dont really need to be in a gang for traditional reasons. It also draws in younger n younger kids. I have seen it with my own eyes, young kids and reasonably affluent kids from decent families, who get involved with gangs.

5/1/2008 4:16:58 PM

I'm betting India's relatively high murder rate probably has something to do with disputes in it's border regions like Kashmir.

5/1/2008 4:23:06 PM

Quote :

"I'm betting India's relatively high murder rate probably has something to do with disputes in it's border regions like Kashmir."

5/1/2008 4:34:55 PM

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_India

5/1/2008 4:37:07 PM

Quote :

"Jammu & Kashmir (33.7%), Manipur (33.0%), Assam (30.4%) and Daman and Diu and Pondicherry (29.4%) reported higher violent crime rate compared to 18.4% at national level"

So I was completely correct in my guess.

5/1/2008 4:39:54 PM

Quote :

"Location has a significant impact on crime in India. In 2006, the highest crime rate was reported in Pondicherry (447.7%) for crimes under Indian Penal Code which is 2.7 times the national crime rate of 167.7%.[25] Kerala reported the highest crime rate at 312.5% among states.[25] Kolkata (71.0%) and Madurai (206.2%) were the only two mega cities which reported less crime rate than their domain states West Bengal (79.0%) and Tamil Nadu (227.6%).[25] Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have accounted for 16.2%, 9.5% and 8.1% respectively of the total IPC crimes reported from 35 mega cities.[25] Indore reported the highest crime rate (769.1%) among the mega cities in India followed by Bhopal (719.5%) and Jaipur (597.1%).[25] Jammu & Kashmir (33.7%), Manipur (33.0%), Assam (30.4%) and Daman and Diu and Pondicherry (29.4%) reported higher violent crime rate compared to 18.4% at national level.[25] Uttar Pradesh reported the highest incidence of violent crimes accounting for 12.1% of total violent crimes in India (24,851 out of 2,05,656) followed by Bihar with 11.8% (24,271 out of 2,05,6556).[25] Among 35 mega cities, Delhi reported 31.2% (533 out of 1,706) of total rape cases.[25] Madhya Pradesh has reported the highest number of rape cases (2,900) accounting for 15.0% of total such cases reported in the country.[25] Uttar Pradesh reported 16.9% (5,480 out of 32,481) of total murder cases in the country and 18.4% (4,997 out of 27,230) total attempt to murder cases.[25]"

[facepalm]

If you bother to click on the rest of those cities and states you'll see that they're all over the country. It's extremely myopic to cherry pick Kashmir from the list and claim that you're completely right.

5/1/2008 4:50:34 PM

I'm betting it has to do with Kali Ma inspired in-vivo heart extractions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9VtNBroFVE

5/1/2008 4:52:23 PM

Quote :

"See its more than that though, some kids come from decent families and still choose to get involved in crime."

That's the rare incidents. Majority of cases still fall back on the original theory* of poor parenting and related social influences.

*Not so much a theory anymore since there have been a quadrillion studies on this issue in the past 20 years

5/1/2008 4:58:35 PM

violent crime, not just crime. If we're comparing murder stats between India and the US it's best to look at violent crime by region, not just crime.

5/1/2008 5:03:06 PM

Yes, and violent crime happens at comparable rates in regions all over the country, so how are you completely correct in chalking it all up to border disputes?

5/1/2008 5:15:23 PM

Quote :

"seems there are more kids joining because they simply feel it is cool and glamorous to be a thug."

And you have to deal with it a lot I bet.

Through out history, youth had to do more and more outrageous things to come off as hip rebels.

It's sad that now they have to resort to robbery and violence to impress each other.

What Repub18 says makes me think that if we got really tough and nasty with these gangs, they wouldn't attract the wannabes so much.

5/1/2008 6:27:59 PM

Speaking of India:
http://tinyurl.com/6efmxn

5/1/2008 6:35:58 PM

Maybe I'm idealizing the past a bit much, but prior to the 1950s there wasn't a "teenager" demographic for kids to try to fit into. Instead of striving to fit in with your peers you strived to act like an adult in the workforce, as such many youths were employed and were even learning a trade before they were 18.

Even then though, if you parents were fuck ups it was more likely that you would turn into one yourself. Now we've subsidized being a complete fuck ups so kids can be brought into the world by completely irresponsible parents and then be left to their own means in the absence of a strong parent figure.

I hate making sweeping generalizations, but it looks like I just made one.

[Edited on May 1, 2008 at 6:39 PM. Reason : .]

5/1/2008 6:37:48 PM

Quote :

"Republican18: I have seen it with my own eyes, young kids and reasonably affluent kids from decent families, who get involved with gangs."

But these are the kids whose parents can buy their way out of it though.

I'm really not that worried about them. Somewhere around 21 or 22, physiological changes will occur in the brain, and they'll realize they don't wanna be losers anymore, and their reasonably affluent, decent families will help them get a second shot.

5/1/2008 11:57:48 PM

not always

5/2/2008 12:01:18 AM

The whole "teenager" thing is a product of society.

Before now, by the time you were 13 or 14, you were considered a man, and had the full responsibility of that put on your shoulders. In today's times, most kids that old probably couldn't cross the street without looking both ways.

This is what we get for our society being dumbed down and overprotective.

5/2/2008 12:11:34 AM

this is obviously a problem of the public transportation system.

if buses weren't available, these kids wouldnt be able to go to rich white neighborhoods and steal shit.

Raleigh CAT system is circumventing Darwinian Natural Selection

:grr:

5/2/2008 12:42:35 AM

Quote :

"The whole "teenager" thing is a product of society."

i swear to god whenever there's a flat out stupid post, there's always one of the same maybe half a dozen names attached to it.

i first read this and thought, "who the fuck ..." then i saw: CharlesHF, and was like, "oh, yeah, that guy."

i dont know what is it with you NC State Young Republicans and your complete inability to grasp the basic concepts of subjects like "human physiology"

I mean, take a break from your Marketing classes and frathouse beerbongs, and go learn something about the natural world, mmkay?



[Edited on May 2, 2008 at 12:48 AM. Reason : ]

5/2/2008 12:46:53 AM

^ JoeSalisbury has spoken--you'd better recognize.

Quote :

"Criminals are often indigent and cannot afford cars or other expensive forms of transportation. Areas near public transportation, and particularly subways, witness a higher crime rate-particularly robbery and larceny-than more inaccessable areas"

http://www.cambridgema.gov/cpd/reports/1998/factors.html

Quote :

"Abstract Crime on public transit is receiving increasing attention in the United States. This paper reviews security precautions taken in the planning of bus operations. Also included is a statistical analysis of criminal incidents occurring over a ten-year period on the Southern California Rapid Transit District of Los Angeles. The analysis shows that crime on transit has increased about in proportion to transit ridership, and that it is concentrated in both space and time. Crimes occur mostly on routes which traverse areas having high crime rates in general. Although most transit crimes occur at hours when ridership is high, the rates of occurrence are disproportionately high during the evening hours. Bus drivers experience much higher rates of exposure to criminal incidents than transit passengers. The transportation environment is really a complex of many dissimilar environments, and a variety of strategies is required to meet the needs posed by diverse environments."

http://www.springerlink.com/content/q84006493160j8u4/

Quote :

"Routine activities theory states that crime rates will be higher in areas where there is a confluence of motivated offenders, suitable targets, and a lack of capable guardians. Current research investigating routine activities illustrates that areas that are rich in suitable targets will experience higher rates of crime. Also, certain activities have been shown to be associated with certain criminal activities. Furthermore, some places within cities are prone to attract offenders due to demographic and physical characteristics of communities. The current paper examines how the proliferation of public transportation influences neighborhood crime rates. It is expected that neighborhoods that have a large number of public transportation nodes will have higher crime rates. The increase in routes through a neighborhood will allow motivated offenders greater access to the neighborhood. Relying on public transportation data, neighborhood property and robbery measures, and census data, the current paper will use spatial data analysis and spatial regression to investigate the relationship between public transportation and crime rates."

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=crime+on+public+transit



Sorry, Republican18.

5/2/2008 5:45:29 AM

i dont eat donuts

5/2/2008 6:08:02 AM

Quote :

"Raleigh CAT system is circumventing Darwinian Natural Selection"

I seriously think Joe is onto something

5/2/2008 11:02:24 AM

Quote :

"CharlesHF:In today's times, most kids that old probably couldn't cross the street without looking both ways."

5/2/2008 2:56:18 PM

Quote :

"I'm betting it has to do with Kali Ma inspired in-vivo heart extractions: "

winnar!

5/2/2008 4:00:04 PM

Another Robbery Today on Campus

At Bragaw Hall!!

This time one of them had a handgun

5/3/2008 10:51:41 AM

looks like I moved at the right time.

5/3/2008 4:23:43 PM

Quote :

"I mean, take a break from your Marketing classes and frathouse beerbongs, and go learn something about the natural world, mmkay?"

I've never taken a marketing class, and I don't really drink, and lord knows I hate frats.

5/3/2008 4:28:34 PM

Robbery? Wait, wut?

5/3/2008 5:38:39 PM

Raleigh and NCSU PD were probably too busy eradicating the scourge of underage drinking last night to patrol and ensure the safety of those on campus.

I mean its end of year, people are finishing exams. We got to make sure those 18-20 year olds are not drinking underage. Definitly gets priority over a few guys getting mugged.

5/3/2008 5:48:59 PM

Quote :

"Raleigh and NCSU PD were probably too busy eradicating the scourge of underage drinking last night to patrol and ensure the safety of those on campus. I mean its end of year, people are finishing exams. We got to make sure those 18-20 year olds are not drinking underage. Definitely gets priority over a few guys getting mugged."

the same kinds of people who say this are the same kinds of people who bog the police down with petty waste of time calls that dont require police involvement. But thats neither here nor there, the fact is that the police can not be everywhere in every instance. my advice to students on campus, learn to enhance your situational awareness to keep yourself safe

5/3/2008 6:04:45 PM

^ I agree with your latter statement. But concerning this. . .

Quote :

". . . [T]he police can not [sic] be everywhere in every instance."

. . .it seems that Campus Police cannot be anywhere near the crime in any instance--with all due respect.

^^ And I actually agree that there's too much focus and emphasis by police, politicians, and administrators on the type of violations you describe.

[Edited on May 3, 2008 at 6:17 PM. Reason : .]

5/3/2008 6:14:28 PM